Thu, 11 Nov 2010, 03:10 PM Competition Eliminator Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 46th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, amount over/under index, and position in order following run, class and class index:

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Left Lane: Charlie Yannetti Runs 8.931/148.97/-0.529, Now #2 L/AA Index: 9.46
Right Lane: Peter Biondo Runs 8.137/164.35/-0.623, Now #1 C/SR Index: 8.76

11:25AM Weather conditions: air temperature 69 degrees, relative humidity 23 percent, barometer 29.07 inches, adjusted altitude 1,696 feet, track temperature 84 degrees.

Biondo sets the pace for the rest of the field with a sixty under plus effort.

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Left Lane: Mark Wolfe Runs 12.245/71.58/5.205, Now #4 AA/AT Index: 7.04
Right Lane: Gary Ross Runs 6.748/208.04/-0.362, Now #3 A/AA Index: 7.11

Wolfe's T-Bird goes wacky at the green and he is all over his lane before lifting.

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Left Lane: Tyler Hogan Runs 7.412/185.49/-0.148, Now #5 C/DA Index: 7.56
Right Lane: Jeff Lane Runs 7.977/169.06/-0.653, Now #1 B/SMA Index: 8.63

Lane ups the ante with a strong pass into the new top spot.

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Left Lane: Doug Lambeck Runs 8.359/160.25/-0.611, Now #3 D/SMA Index: 8.97
Right Lane: Phil Cocuzza Runs 7.873/174.37/-0.607, Now #4 A/SMA Index: 8.48

Two more great passes into the sub-sixty under range.

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Left Lane: Craig Bourgeois Runs 6.843/199.64/-0.547, Now #5 B/DA Index: 7.39
Right Lane: Frank Cervelli Runs 6.949/190.06/-0.441, Now #9 B/DA Index: 7.39

Cervelli's car makes a hard move towards the center line and he drives it back into the center of his lane.

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Left Lane: Tom Brown Runs 8.316/157.63/-0.404, Now #11 F/ED Index: 8.72
Right Lane: Terry Spargo Runs 6.690/209.46/-0.480, Now #9 A/AP Index: 7.17

187" vs. 713" Forty plus under the index for both cars.

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Left Lane: Scott Hedlund Runs 7.754/175.64/-0.606, Now #5 A/SM Index: 8.36
Right Lane: Mike Trumble Runs 8.181/166.11/-0.509, Now #10 C/SMA Index: 8.69

Hedlund is way early at the gree, but it doesn't count in qualifying. He takes over the new #5 spot on the ladder.

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Left Lane: Al Ackerman Runs 8.022/161.61/-0.578, Now #7 F/D Index: 8.60
Right Lane: Ross Wilson Runs 8.017/170.56/-0.613, Now #3 B/SMA Index: 8.63

2010 Comp Champion, Ackerman, to the line and he cuts a high fifty under for the new #7 spot.

Wilson makes a strong pass into the new number three position.

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Left Lane: Steven Kent Runs 7.685/175.37/-0.625, Now #3 E/A Index: 8.31
Right Lane: Buddy Perkinson Runs 6.870/201.28/-0.640, Now #2 B/A Index: 7.51

Two more sixty under passes shuffle most everyone down two spots. Nice!

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Left Lane: John Edwards Runs 7.295/187.08/-0.665, Now #1 C/AA Index: 7.96
Right Lane: Randy Jones Runs 7.931/170.88/-0.549, Now #11 A/SMA Index: 8.48

Jones leaves hard and has the back end step out. He drives through it and completes the pass.

Edwards thunders down the left lane without drama to take over the new top spot.

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Left Lane: Scott McClay Runs 7.234/182.40/-0.636, Now #4 C/ED Index: 7.87
Right Lane: Alan Ellis Runs 6.517/208.33/-0.593, Now #11 A/AA Index: 7.11

Whoa! McClay did his home work and makes a great wheels up pass into the #4 spot.

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Left Lane: Bob Marshall Runs 6.983/195.99/-0.587, Now #12 B/AA Index: 7.57
Right Lane: Steve Graham Runs 7.367/183.89/-0.573, Now #14 C/A Index: 7.94

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Left Lane: Mike DePalma Runs 8.095/164.97/-0.665, Now #2 C/T Index: 8.76
Right Lane: Tom Mettler Runs 7.345/184.42/-0.605, Now #12 PST Index: 7.95

Two Pick-Um-Up trucks to the line.

DePalma gets the best of it with a strong pass into the new #2 spot.

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Left Lane: David Rampy Runs 7.224/171.55/-0.616, Now #8 A/EA Index: 7.84
Right Lane: Justin Lamb Runs 8.713/154.72/-0.587, Now #16 G/SMA Index: 9.30

Two good passes into the top half of the field.

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Left Lane: Brian Fitzpatrick Runs 6.406/218.02/-0.564, Now #20 H/D Index: 6.97
Right Lane: Dan Fletcher Runs 7.728/158.52/-0.612, Now #10 B/EA Index: 8.34

Clean pass for the hair dryer, but his index is stout. Fletcher powers into the top half of the field.

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Left Lane: John Mihovetz Runs 7.347/218.87/0.077, Now #32 BB/AT Index: 7.27

Mihovetz's car is violent off the line and the back end snaps out towards the center line.

John Mihovetz is on the bump spot at 0.077.

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Left Lane: Vinny Barone Runs 7.760/171.69/-0.620, Now #8 A/SR Index: 8.38

Great tuning pass for Barone and he moves the roadster into the top eight.

Tyler Hogan is on the bump spot at -0.148.

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Left Lane: Ed Sigmon Runs 8.423/154.94/-0.667, Now #1 C/SR Index: 9.09

Simon was late coming into staging and there was a brief delay while he finished getting his safety equipment adjusted.

We save the best for last... Looks like being in a hurry works, as he powers the V6 roadster into the final top spot of the session.

11:53 a.m. Gary Ross is on the bump spot at -0.362.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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